Jun 26 Why poems can be safe spaces during the pandemic By Joshua Barajas In a new anthology, 125 poets write about this moment in real time. Continue reading
May 08 How two poets are nurturing support networks disrupted by the pandemic By Stephanie García For Alok Vaid-Menon and Alán Peláez López, both gender non-conforming people of color, this moment of isolation amid the pandemic has been a time for finding new ways to draw people closer and create community online. Continue reading
May 08 New anthology collects dozens of poems about pandemic By Hillel Italie, Associated Press More than 80 poems are included in an anthology, “Together In a Sudden Strangeness,” coming in e-book and audio formats in June. Continue reading
Feb 13 Watch 3:43 Tongo Eisen-Martin’s Brief But Spectacular take on poetry as revolution Poet Tongo Eisen-Martin was born and raised in San Francisco, a city whose rapid gentrification he critiques in his work. Through his writing, Eisen-Martin seeks to “facilitate resistance” to a culture that he believes perpetuates domination of those who are… Continue watching
Jan 08 Why scholars think the unsealed T.S. Eliot letters are a big deal By Joshua Barajas “Eliot’s writings have always been somewhat explosive, but remarkably, that continues to be the case even 50 years after his death," one scholar said. Continue reading
Nov 08 How veterans who write poetry can help bridge divides By James Dubinsky, The Conversation To better understand veterans' sacrifice, read their poems. Continue reading
Sep 19 Watch 7:23 U.S. poet laureate Joy Harjo on opening a ‘doorway of hope’ for indigenous artists By Jeffrey Brown, Kira Wakeam Joy Harjo, the new poet laureate of the United States, is the first Native American to achieve that honor. Jeffrey Brown recently sat down with Harjo, a member of Oklahoma's Muscogee Creek Nation, in Tulsa to discuss how arts shaped… Continue watching
Jun 26 Watch 6:10 At this D.C. jail, a book club offers a safe space By Jeffrey Brown, Rachel Wellford Reading and writing can provide a profession, a passion or an escape from reality. In Washington, D.C., the Free Minds Book Club positions the activities as mechanisms through which incarcerated people can express themselves in healthy and constructive ways. As… Continue watching
Jun 19 Joy Harjo becomes first Native American named U.S. poet laureate By Hillel Italie, Associated Press Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden said in a statement that Harjo helped tell an "American story" of traditions both lost and maintained, of "reckoning and myth-making. Continue reading
Mar 15 W.S. Merwin, prize-winning poet of nature, dies at 91 By Hillel Italie, Jennifer Kelleher, Associated Press A Pulitzer Prize winner and former U.S. poet laureate, Merwin completed more than 20 books. Continue reading